King prawns with chargrilled sweetcorn salsa

Frank Camorra

Cooking prawns with the shell on keeps them moist and tasty while cooking. Photo: Marina Oliphant

Corn is abundant at this time of year and it is also the sweetest while in season. Cooking prawns with the shell on is much easier than peeling the whole crustaceans, and the fat layer under the shell keeps them moist and tasty while cooking.

Ingredients

18 green king prawns

6 wooden skewers, soaked

2 sweetcorn cobs, husk removed

1 red onion, finely sliced

1 red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped

1 lime, juiced

1 green capsicum, finely diced

2 spring onions, finely sliced

1 Lebanese cucumber, de-seeded and diced into 1cm pieces

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 cup chopped coriander

1/2 cup chopped mint

Method

Remove the heads from the prawns, then lay them on their back and cut in half through the belly, from the top to the tail, but do not cut through the outer shell. Remove the intestine tract, then push the skewer through the meat at the head end while holding the prawn open.

Put three prawns on each skewer (as pictured) and repeat for the remaining prawns.

Store skewered prawns in the fridge while making the salsa.

Cook the corn on the grill area of the barbecue to get some colour on the kernels.

Cut the kernels from the cob and place in a bowl with the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Place the prawns shell-side down on a hot barbecue and cook for four to five minutes or until the flesh is firm. Don't turn over, just remove, top with salsa and serve immediately.